Fairground Phobia
by Victoria to Worthing
Summary: Lizzie and Edwin both have some odd fears when the family goes to a carnival. Will they help each other get over them? Slight Lizwin, mostly just funny/fluffy.


**Author's note**: This is my first _Life with Derek_ fic posted. I'm working on a chaptered fic, but I don't want to begin putting it up until it's done. I hope y'all like this one! I'm addicted to reviews-- please help me out!

**Disclaimer**: I don't own _Life with Derek_ or any of its characters.

Edwin and Lizzie walked across the fairgrounds dizzily.

"Whoa," Edwin gasped. "That was the most frightening experience of my life. I screamed like a girl. I almost barfed. I thought I was going to die."

Lizzie laughed. "I thought it was great!"

They had just left the TurboTwister, a famously terrifying rollercoaster. They had been on every other scary ride at the fair already. George and Nora were taking Marti on the kid rides, and Casey and Derek had deemed themselves too cool to go to a carnival with their parents, so Lizzie and Edwin had teamed up as usual.

Lizzie had loved all the rollercoasters. She had whooped and cheered as they whipped around corners and did loop-de-loops. Edwin had moaned, screamed, secretly cried, and squeezed Lizzie's hand until it turned red. He was extremely relieved that they had finally checked off the last rollercoaster on their want-to-ride list. Truthfully, he hadn't wanted to ride even _one_ rollercoaster, but he didn't want to seem like a chicken.

"Hey, look, the Ferris wheel. Do you want to go?" He pointed up at the thankfully tame ride.

"Um, OK, I guess." Lizzie's maniacal rollercoaster grin faded a little as they joined the Ferris wheel line.

When it was their turn, they sat down on opposite sides of the two-sided, cup-shaped car.

"Finally, a ride that's my speed," Edwin sighed, leaning back and setting his arm along the back of his seat.

"Are you sure you should put your arm there? What if you tip out?" Lizzie asked nervously.

Edwin laughed. "How could I tip out? Derek and I have rocked these cars before and we never tipped out."

"You better not rock this one, or I'll pound you!" Lizzie growled, and Edwin's eyebrows shot up in horror.

"Geez, Liz, chill out."

The Ferris wheel finished loading and began to slowly turn. To Edwin's surprise, Lizzie squeaked and covered her eyes.

"Are you OK?" he asked.

"Yeah. Fine. Just, uh… resting my eyes."

Edwin laughed. "Resting them from what? The view is the best part of the Ferris wheel!"

"Uh, yeah, the view." Lizzie cautiously uncovered her eyes and peeked over the edge of the car. Then the wheel rotated another few degrees and stopped, making the car rock, and Lizzie slapped her hands over her eyes again. "I can't do this, Edwin! I _hate_ the Ferris wheel!"

"You do?"

"Yes! So much! I mean, I know we were high up on the rollercoasters, but they kind of move around really fast and it's fun. On the Ferris wheel, you just… _hang_ there! I keep looking down and seeing the ground a million feet away, and when the car moves I feel like we're going to fall out and die!"

Edwin snickered. "Die? Liz, even old ladies ride the Ferris wheel. Even babies ride it. You'll be fine."

"I know that, but I'm still scared, OK? You're not making me feel any better!"

"Sorry."

As the car got progressively higher, Lizzie got more and more silent and still. Every time a breeze blew by, she moaned. By the time they reached the top of the wheel, she had her eyes clamped shut.

Finally, Edwin felt too bad just sitting across from her being amused. He edged out of his seat and moved over to sit by her.

"Don't rock it! Don't rock it!" she yelled, causing people around them to stare.

"Shh, Liz! I'm trying to help here."

"By killing us?" she howled.

"No." He stuck his hand out in front of her downcast face. "Here."

"What? You're not holding anything!"

"I mean, here, you can grab my hand. I practically broke all your finger bones on the Bone Crusher earlier."

Lizzie giggled weakly. "Thanks." She grabbed his hand, then they both got silent as they realized that it was much more noticeable to be holding hands on a quiet Ferris wheel than it was on a rushing rollercoaster.

"You'll feel better once the wheel actually starts turning. The cars don't rock then. It's fun, I promise."

A moment after he said this, the wheel sped up. At first, Lizzie squeezed Edwin's hand in panic, but then her grip relaxed as she realized that what he'd said was true.

"I guess this isn't so bad," she said, sounding relieved. By the time the ride was over, she was actually smiling a little.

Unfortunately, they had to repeat the whole process as the wheel slowed again to let everybody off, but she didn't squeak anymore, at least.

When they were finally released from the anxiety-producing car, they began strolling around slowly, looking for their next activity.

"Hey, you wanna go to the arcade?" Lizzie asked. "Neither one of us should be scared of anything in there."

"Speak for yourself. I have an intense fear of air hockey!" She gave him a skeptical look. "Just kidding! Heh. Let's go."

On the way to the arcade building, he reached over and grabbed her hand.

"Hey, what are you scared of now?" she asked, looking at their joined hands.

"Um…" He smiled nervously. "Nothing?"

"Oh." She laughed, dragging him toward the building. "Me, neither!"


End file.
